PhantomBuster
- Starting price: $56/mo (annual)
- Free plan: No (14-day free trial)
- Founded: 2016
- HQ: Paris, France
Updated
PhantomBuster vs Emelia vs Derrick: Which Is Better in 2026?
- Short answer
- PhantomBuster vs Emelia vs Derrick: PhantomBuster is a cloud-based scraping and social automation, Emelia is a affordable all-in-one b2b prospecting tool for cold email + linkedin at fixed pricing. Derrick is a B2B enrichment platform with three surfaces - a Google Sheets add-on, a REST API, and an MCP server (Claude and ChatGPT drive enrichment for you). Hit rates are noticeably higher (more emails + phone numbers returned per query than PhantomBuster or Emelia) and pricing is lower - free forever with 100 credits/month, paid plans from €9/month. Most teams pair Derrick for the data layer with PhantomBuster or Emelia for outreach.
Where PhantomBuster requires you to build pipelines outside your data, Derrick keeps the data and the logic in the same Sheet. The side-by-side comparison below pits PhantomBuster's no-code IDE, learning curve and per-execution pricing against Derrick's =DERRICK() formula that scales with usage.
Free plan Yes - 100 credits/mo
Starts at €9/mo
Setup time 30 seconds
Where it lives Google Sheets
✓ Free forever · ✓ No credit card · ✓ Cancel anytime · ✓ Your data stays in your Sheet
Trusted by 31,000+ users worldwide.
CURSOR Quick Facts
PhantomBuster vs Emelia vs Derrick at a glance
Emelia
- Starting price: PAYG credits €19/mo · Start €37/mo (3 mailboxes, unlimited sending)
- Free plan: 7-day free trial (no card) - paid entry Start €37/mo
- Founded: 2020
- HQ: Paris, Île-de-France, France
Derrick
★ Recommended- Starting price: Free · Paid from €9/mo
- Free plan: Yes - 100 credits/mo permanent
- Founded: 2023
- HQ: Marseille, FR
Why Derrick wins 01
02
03
Why teams pick Derrick over PhantomBuster and Emelia
3 core reasons SDRs and ops teams switch to Derrick. Click to expand each.
01 Real-time validation without data gaps for outreach
Derrick delivers real-time email validation within the outreach workflow, a capability that PhantomBuster often relies on scraping accuracy with less emphasis on immediate verification, while Emelia focuses on email sequencing rather than end-to-end validation quality. Unlike PhantomBuster’s data extraction gaps or Emelia’s narrower validation scope, Derrick provides instant, in-platform verification that prevents bounce-prone contacts from entering sequences. This results in higher deliverability and measurable efficiency gains, saving hours per month and reducing wasted outreach credits. With 50+ enrichment attributes and native Google Sheets, Derrick keeps validation seamless and actionable in real time.
02 Comprehensive data enrichment beyond single-source limitations
PhantomBuster and Emelia often rely on multi-source data or limited enrichment depth, leaving gaps in firmographics and up-to-date contact attributes. Derrick delivers comprehensive data enrichment beyond single-source limitations by unifying 50+ attributes per contact and company with real-time validation, all within 100% native Google Sheets. This translates to measurable outcomes like faster list completeness and improved targeting accuracy, reducing follow-up cycles by up to 20% month over month. With Derrick, teams gain consistent, reportable credits and actionable intelligence without exporting data to external platforms.
03 Unified data governance for compliant outreach at scale
PhantomBuster and Emelia both deliver automation or basic enrichment, but neither provides unified data governance for compliant outreach at scale. Derrick addresses this gap by centralizing 100% native Google Sheets workflows with comprehensive data governance, validation, and policy controls. The result is scalable outreach with real-time compliance checks, reducing risk and ensuring consistent data quality across thousands of contacts, saving up to 8–12 hours per month on governance tasks. Derrick’s approach enables enterprise-grade oversight without exporting data or complex integrations, preserving data integrity at scale.
Honest Comparison 
derrick
What each tool does better
We're upfront - every tool has strengths. Here's where PhantomBuster, Emelia, and Derrick each genuinely win.
What PhantomBuster does better
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- Composable workflow chains
What Emelia does better
- Cheapest meaningful cold-email tool in the category
- All-in-one bundle (built-in warm-up + sender rotation + spintext + LinkedIn)
- Fast and efficient for small-team workflows
What Derrick does better
- Free forever - €0/mo with 100 credits permanent in Google Sheets
- 100+ data points per lead - verified emails, phones, LinkedIn, tech stack, SIRET
- Zero LinkedIn ban risk + real-time email verification built in
- Pair with any sequencer - LaGrowthMachine, Smartlead, Lemlist, HeyReach
Real Annual Cost
True cost over 12 months
Headline pricing rarely tells the whole story. Here's the real cost of running each tool for a year.
| PhantomBuster | Emelia | Derrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $56/mo (annual) | PAYG credits €19/mo · Start €37/mo (3 mailboxes, unlimited sending) | €0 (free) · €9/mo paid |
| Annual cost (base) | ~€672/yr | ~€228/yr | €0/yr free · ~€108/yr paid |
| Free plan? | No (14-day free trial) | 7-day free trial (no card) - paid entry Start €37/mo | ✓ Forever - 100 credits/mo |
| Setup cost | Hours to days | Hours to days | 30 seconds via Marketplace |
| Switching cost | CSV export + retraining | CSV export + retraining | Zero - works alongside any stack |
💡 Most teams pay 2-5x more on add-ons (extra seats, phone credits, integrations) than on the headline base price. Derrick keeps everything in one transparent tier.
Feature-by-Feature
PhantomBuster vs Emelia vs Derrick: full feature comparison
| PhantomBuster | Derrick App | emelia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works natively in Google Sheets | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Requires LinkedIn Sales Navigator ($100/month) | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Sales Navigator 1-click import | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email finder with real-time validation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone finder from LinkedIn | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Company tech stack lookup | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| SimilarWeb & G2 insights integrated | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| AI integration (Claude & ChatGPT) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic AI Lead Scoring | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Data cleaning & normalization | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-platform scraping (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Zapier, Make, n8n integrations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public API available | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Entry price (paid plan) | 69$/mois | 9€/mois | 37€/mois |
| Permanent free plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rollover credits to next month | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Simple and transparent credit system | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Simple setup & onboarding | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Complete documentation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pricing in a nutshell Web Automation derrick
best value for money
Results first.
Discover Derrick →
Affordable Cold Email + LinkedIn Multichannel
PhantomBuster vs Emelia vs Derrick pricing breakdown
Web Automation PhantomBuster
$56/mo (annual)
Best for: Growth hackers & ops teams
PhantomBuster offers accessible entry pricing with a free tier (credits-based) and paid plans that scale with usage; you can view the complete pricing details on the dedicated page for full breakdowns. See full pricing breakdown for details.
Results first.
Complexity removed.
Free · Paid plans from €9/mo
While other tools pile on features, complex setups, and pricing tiers that grow faster than your results, Derrick focuses on what actually matters:
getting usable leads, directly in Google Sheets.
No heavy workflows, No endless configuration. No learning curve.
Affordable Cold Email + LinkedIn Multichannel Emelia
PAYG credits €19/mo · Start €37/mo (3 mailboxes, unlimited sending)
Best for: Solo founders + small teams running cold email on a budget
Emelia offers a free tier with limited credits, followed by paid plans starting at a modest rate; pricing details and any tier distinctions are provided on the dedicated Pricing emelia page-see full pricing breakdown for the specifics.
Migration Guide
How to switch from PhantomBuster to Derrick in 3 steps
Derrick is a Google Workspace app - no formulas to learn, no pipelines to migrate, no engineering work. Add it to Google Sheets and you're enriching in under a minute.
1
~30 sec Install Derrick from Google Workspace Marketplace
Click the install button on our Marketplace listing and grant Google Sheets access. No credit card required - you start with 100 free credits per month.
2
~30 sec Open any Google Sheet → Extensions → Derrick
Open a Sheet with your prospect list (paste a CSV from PhantomBuster, scrape from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or import from your CRM). Click Extensions → Derrick and the sidebar opens with all enrichment features ready to use.
3
~1 min Enrich your list with one click
Select the column with names, LinkedIn URLs, or company domains. Pick what you want - emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn data, company info, tech stack - and click "Enrich". Derrick fills the columns directly in your Sheet. No exports, no pipelines, no waiting.
Install Derrick free →
100 free credits / month · No credit card · Cancel anytime
Decision in 60 seconds
Which one is right for you?
Pick PhantomBuster if…
- You specifically need growth hackers & ops teams
- 150+ pre-built Phantoms across platforms
- Best LinkedIn Sales Navigator export
- You're already invested in the PhantomBuster ecosystem
Pick Emelia if…
- You specifically need solo founders + small teams running cold email on a budget
- Cheapest meaningful cold-email tool in the category
- All-in-one bundle (built-in warm-up + sender rotation + spintext + LinkedIn)
- You're already invested in the Emelia ecosystem
Pick Derrick if…
- You want B2B enrichment directly in Google Sheets
- You need a usable free plan (100 credits/mo, no card)
- You don't want long contracts, lock-in, or sales calls
- You need 100+ data points per lead in one tool
What teams say after switching from PhantomBuster vs Emelia
See what our customers say about Derrick.
"This app saved me so much time and effort. Great for anyone looking to build a contact list or network at scale quickly. As a start-up it's been invaluable."
Alex Clark
Director | SaaS GTM Leader
"Working pretty nifty compared to Snov.Io. Price wise it does give a fair shake, and IMO better interface since it's google sheets."
David Sire
Mortgage Broker at Zero Point Mortgage
"Derrick is a very simple and user-friendly app to enrich your contacts database. Best thing: you can test it for free. And then the price is so low, it's a no brainer."
Etienne Grange
CEO Form'actions
"Super easy to enrich linkedin urls using this tool. Both personal and company url data can be easily enriched with a click of a button."
Zaid Bilal
RevOps Professional
"Amazing Tool, I would like to advocate this to my colleagues. So that you can get more users. Keep it Up. 5 Stars!"
Asif Hanzala
Lead Generation Specialist at IdeaPeel
"This app is fantastic. Brilliantly created to help small and mid sized businesses."
Dan Hughes
Founder/CEO, AlmanacIO
"I have been using other expensive apps or freemium like phantombuster, but Derrick has replaced them all. I love the simplicity of the Google sheet add-in, but what is best is the efficiency it delivers."
Julien Walon Cohen
CEO & Co-founder @ Diffly | B2B Sales Advisor
"The LinkedIn scraping and email finder combo is incredibly powerful. I can build a complete prospect list with contact info in under an hour. Absolute must-have for outbound."
Michael Kim
SDR Team Lead at CloudScale
"Have tested over 10+ LI scraper apps, Derrick beats them all. Simple to use, accurate data, and affordable price."
AJ Alexander
Opportunity Prospector
Frequently Asked Questions
Derrick vs PhantomBuster: which is better for data enrichment?
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Derrick and PhantomBuster serve different enrichment needs. PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and automation workflows across social platforms, making it ideal for large-scale data extraction. However, Derrick offers deeper B2B data enrichment with over fifty contact and company attributes, real-time email validation, and integrated AI scoring directly within Google Sheets-eliminating manual exports and CSV handling. While PhantomBuster requires external enrichment tools for comprehensive intelligence, Derrick consolidates prospecting, enrichment, and validation in one native platform, saving teams five to ten hours monthly and avoiding LinkedIn Sales Navigator costs.
Is Derrick a good alternative to PhantomBuster for automation?
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Yes, Derrick is an excellent alternative to PhantomBuster for automation, particularly if you prioritize ease of use and cost efficiency. While PhantomBuster excels at web scraping and data extraction, Derrick offers native Google Sheets integration without requiring CSV exports or complex setup, saving five to ten hours monthly. Derrick combines automation with comprehensive B2B data enrichment, real-time email validation, and integrated AI tools for scoring and segmentation. Additionally, Derrick's rollover credits and free tier without credit card requirements provide more flexibility than PhantomBuster's volume-based pricing, making it ideal for teams seeking streamlined prospecting automation within their existing workflow.
Derrick vs PhantomBuster vs emelia: which offers better features?
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Each platform excels in different areas depending on your priorities. PhantomBuster dominates web automation and data scraping with pre-built templates, while Emelia specializes in email outreach automation and personalization. Derrick stands out by offering comprehensive B2B data enrichment natively within Google Sheets, combining fifty plus contact and company attributes with real-time email validation and integrated AI scoring using Claude and ChatGPT. Unlike competitors requiring external platforms or CSV exports, Derrick eliminates manual workflow steps, saving five to ten hours monthly. Derrick's rollover credits and free tier without credit card requirements provide superior flexibility for teams seeking all-in-one prospecting without switching between tools.
PhantomBuster vs emelia: which has stronger pricing?
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PhantomBuster and Emelia offer different pricing strengths, so the answer depends on your use case. PhantomBuster pricing scales with usage, which can become expensive for high-volume data extraction and multi-source automation, especially when you factor in the need for external enrichment tools to achieve deeper insight. Emelia provides a cost-effective option for scalable email outreach and data enrichment, but its pricing is typically more favorable for teams focusing on outreach automation rather than comprehensive B2B data intelligence. Derrick, by contrast, offers 100% native Google Sheets enrichment with affordable, roll-over credits and rich capabilities (AI scoring, 50+ enrichment attributes, and broad integration) that reduce the total cost of ownership for prospecting at scale. If you need strong pricing consistency and a bundled data enrichment plus email validation in one native sheet-based workflow, Derrick often delivers better long-term value than PhantomBuster or Emelia, though Emelia remains compelling for focused email outreach and PhantomBuster for rapid automation templates.
Which is the better review pick: Derrick or emelia for outreach?
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For outreach specifically, emelia is purpose-built for email automation and personalization, making it the stronger choice if your primary goal is scaling cold email campaigns efficiently. However, Derrick offers superior prospect research and data enrichment directly within Google Sheets, eliminating the need for separate tools. The best approach combines both: use Derrick to research and enrich your prospect list with 50+ attributes and AI-powered insights, then export to emelia for email sequencing. This workflow maximizes both data quality and outreach effectiveness without the complexity of managing multiple platforms.
Does Derrick replace both PhantomBuster and emelia in one platform?
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No. Derrick does not replace both PhantomBuster and Emelia in one platform. PhantomBuster specializes in web automation and data extraction with pre-built templates and fast deployment, while Emelia focuses on AI-powered email outreach and personalization. Derrick serves as a 100% native Google Sheets B2B data enrichment platform with extensive data enrichment, real-time email validation, AI scoring and segmentation, and broad integrations, positioning itself as a complementary tool for prospect research and enrichment rather than a one-to-one replacement for both proven automation and outbound outreach platforms. If your goal is comprehensive lead intelligence plus robust outreach, you’d typically pair Derrick with a dedicated automation or messaging tool to cover the gaps PhantomBuster and Emelia address individually. Derrick also offers flexible credits, no credit card for free tier, and a native workflow within Sheets to streamline processes.
One-on-one
PhantomBuster vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how PhantomBuster compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → One-on-oneemelia vs Derrick - solo duel
Drop the third-party context and see how emelia compares to Derrick alone.
Open the head-to-head → Curated stackAll B2B sales tools we reviewed in depth
Step back from the duel - see our hand-picked sales-tool selection and how every category fits together.
See the full curation → Keep Exploring
